Building a Camera

In the first unit of my STEAM course Light, Sound, and Time, we learned about the many different aspects of light. During our internal investigation, we explored light waves, radiation, and the electromagnetic spectrum. We also learned about similar triangles and graphing skills to help us understand the math concepts behind the waves of light. For our Action Project, we had to make a camera and use it to show our knowledge on the behavior of light and reflection/refraction. To demonstrate our mastery of the math learned in the internal, we applied our knowledge of similar triangles to create a diagram of how our camera captured the light.

LS Camera (2017) LS

In order to capture the light of an image, my camera has a very small pinhole opening in the front as well as a cover to prevent light from entering the camera while I'm not taking a picture. When light enters the pinhole, it gets inverted and projects the image on the other side of the camera. To capture an image, I put a piece of photosensitive paper inside it and let it sit out with the pinhole exposed for 2 minutes However, for some reason, the picture I took did not come out right and just showed darkness. Along with the photo taken with my camera, I also did a photogram. In order to do this, I placed objects on photo paper and while in a dark room, shone light over the objects and paper for 5 sec and then developed the photo.

When constructing my camera, one of the first things I did was paint the entire inside of it black. This is because black absorbs light while white will reflect it. Black will also ensure that the inside of the camera stays as dark as possible and does not ruin the film.

Photogram (2017) LS

During our Internal Investigation, we learned about the differences and similarities between reflection and refraction. Refraction describes light passing into a different medium and bending. Reflection is when light bounces off of surface. Based on these definitions, neither apply to my camera. The light in my camera is simply projected through the pinhole and onto the film. Another thing we learned about was whether light was a particle or a wave. According to our findings, light is both a particle and a wave depending on the situation. Since light can pass through another beam of light, it can be a wave. Since light can transfer energy when it hits a metal sheet, it can be a particle. In my camera, light behaves like a wave because of how it passes through the pinhole and onto the photosensitive paper.

Math Diagram (2017) LS

The diagram above describes the relationship between the object I photographed, the pinhole of my camera, and the distance between the pinhole and the paper. My object was 6.25 in tall, the height from ground to the pinhole is 5 in, and the distance from the pinhole to the film is 5.25 in. Using these three measurements and what I learned about similar triangles, I calculated the distance the light traveled from the object to the paper and the angles between the light and various parts of the camera. As shown above, the light rays pass from the right where the object is, to the left where the film is. This not only gives me a better understanding of the path of the light waves, but also applies the math concepts of trigonometry/geometry that we learn in class.